Date: 9/30/2000
From: SouthernSlider

Ah, I made it. Wasn't sure I could get here this morning, but here I am. On with the story.
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United We Slide, Divided . . . We Disappear

Chapter Fourteen

Kelly’s eyes fluttered open as the warm morning sun beamed down. Her mouth and throat felt dry as she tried to swallow. She closed her eyes and tried to think. A
throbbing foot suddenly brought her memory back as she popped her eyes open again.

“Colin?” she said with a raspy voice. She raised her head and turned to her right. There he lay in all his glory with nothing but a palm frond over his backside. His head
rested on his folded arms. She started to smile, but gasped when she realized she too was in the same shape as he. What on earth had happened?

Colin stirred at the sound of her voice and started to rise, forgetting his state of undress.

“Please, don’t get up,” Kelly said quickly as she turned her head.

Realizing his attire, or lack thereof, he returned to his prone position. “Ke . . .Kelly. I am sorry. This is not what it looks like.”

“I don’t want to know what it looks like, Colin. Just get some clothes on, please.”

His face reddened as he rose while she covered her eyes. Her double meaning didn’t go unnoticed. He returned in a few seconds with still slightly damp pants on and
her clothing in his hands.

After a brief explanation of what had occurred during the night, and checking to see if, indeed, her fever had subsided, he turned his back while she dressed. Her blouse
was still too wet to put on so she made do with only her bra and slacks. She figured it was no different than wearing a bathing suit top, just a little more lacy. They both would just have to get beyond it until the sun dried her blouse sufficiently.

“I want to thank you for tending to my wound and getting my fever down,” she said quietly as she dressed. She knew he was embarrassed by their situation, but she hoped her attitude would ease his uncomfortableness.

“I’m just glad dipping you into the cool water worked,” he answered.

“You can turn around now.”

He turned to face her, not expecting to see her without her blouse. It momentarily flustered him, and he looked away again.

“It’s all right, Colin. Like you said, now is not the time for modesty. My blouse is still too wet to put on. As soon as the sun dries it, I’ll cover up more properly.
Meanwhile, you don’t have to stare out into the ocean.”

Colin finally got beyond the awkward moment, and handed Kelly something to eat. When she mentioned her dry mouth, he left to get more fresh water from the pool.
On his way back, he made the decision to tell Kelly the whole truth about Wade as he knew it. It would be hard on both of them, but he had to do it. It should be just a matter of time now before they were rescued, and he wanted her to know before going home.

Kelly drank hungrily for a minute as Colin watched. He second-guessed his decision to bare all, but decided it had to be done.

“Kelly, do you feel up to talking?” he asked.

“Sure.” She propped up on one elbow. “I guess it has been pretty lonely for you with both Conie and I out of it for a while.” He didn’t correct her misassumption, opting
to just jump right into the story.

“Kelly, I need to tell you about Wade.”

She froze, the smile leaving her lips instantly. She had known all along there was something he wasn’t telling her, but she tried desperately to deny it. If she didn’t hear the bad news maybe it wouldn’t be true. Her lip trembled as Colin began.

The whole story poured out of him in record time. He started with Maggie, and how she and Wade never got along. Then came the whys and wherefores of their separation. He interjected occasionally a reminder that this was all second-hand information. He was only relating what he had been told. He stopped and took a deep breath before telling her about the Kromagg capture and being sent to a breeding camp. Kelly never moved or responded to anything Colin was saying. She sat stoically as he related the events.

Colin continued, telling her again how Quinn discovered he had a brother, and their first meeting. He tried to convey a caring and worried attitude from Quinn, but he
knew he wasn’t being very successful. Before he realized it, he was telling Kelly about Quinn’s change in attitude, and how he virtually gave up trying to locate Wade.
Eventually the real truth tumbled out about how he met up with Kelly at the bar that night -- all about the big fight between himself and Quinn. He stopped when he saw a tear
trailing its way down Kelly’s cheek.

Kelly had steeled herself for something horrible when Colin first said he wanted to talk about Wade, but there was no way to prepare for what he had told her. She realized she had been preparing to hear of Wade’s death, not some horrible torture of rape at the hands of aliens. Her insides disintegrated, and she felt like a hollow shell. The more he talked, the less she could feel anything -- until he mentioned how Quinn’s feelings had waned, and indifference had taken over. Those words brought her back to life. She felt everything at that moment; the anger swelled inside of her until she felt she would explode. And that’s exactly what she did; only Colin had to take the brunt of it in Quinn’s absence.

She screamed at the top of her lungs, and flung coconuts and anything else withing reach across the beach. Colin had to duck on more than one occasion to keep from being hit in the head. He wanted to take her in his arms and try to sooth away the pain, but she was like a crazy woman, flinging her arms and ranting for all the world to
hear. It was good that Quinn had moved on to another world; she would kill him if he were still on this one.

When all available items had been tossed around, she jumped at Colin and started beating his chest with her fists. She was incoherent at this point and wild-eyed. Colin
grabbed her flailing arms.

“Kelly, please. I know this hurts, but you have to calm down,” he said, trying to be calm. It did no good.

She jerked away from him and ran. She felt no pain from her injured foot or from anything. She could feel nothing at all; she just ran and ran and ran as if she were in the
wormhole again being sent to another world, wondering if she would ever stop.
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SS

Ouch

Date: 9/30/2000
From: DieselMickeyDolenz

As bad as it all was for us to watch, it has to be worse for Kelly. Methinks Quinn's in for it when he finds them. Eagerly awaiting the next chapter.

Diesel
 Mickey
  Dolenz

whoa!

Date: 9/30/2000
From: weeeezr

thats some heavy shit....

ss?

where is hawk?

u two are usually in friendly competition with the fanfics whats the deal?

Original URL http://www.scifi.com/bboard/browse.cgi/1/5/1095/2871
Nominated by DieselMickeyDolenz